GREAT CINEMAMASTER LIST
Menu

The Essential 713, made interactive

Find your next
great film.

Search 713 spoiler-free recommendations from 1916 to 2026. Filter by the night you want—not the list you’re supposed to finish.

Direct film viewShowing master rank #48 on its own—not above the ranking.
Refine this collection

Your canon

Back up / restore my film dataLoading your progress…Saved only in this browser
Artwork
DirectorAll directors

Most represented · 6+ films

More recurring directors · 3–5 films54
All directors · surname A–Z438
ActorAll actors

Most represented actors

Big Three membership
Major award winners

1 selected film

Master Rank balances Greatness, Engagement, and Ease. Sort by Greatness for the artistic-canon view.

Director:
Cast:
View A Separation film page
Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

A married couple’s dispute over leaving Iran sets off a morally complicated conflict involving another family.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Simin seeks a divorce because Nader refuses to leave Iran while caring for his father, who has Alzheimer's disease. After she moves out, Nader hires Razieh as a caregiver, and a household confrontation creates conflicting accounts with serious consequences.

Why it belongs

Farhadi fashions astonishing tension from ordinary choices, allowing every character’s motives to remain understandable and morally unstable.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Farhadi positions a request for divorce, an elderly father's care, a hired worker, and conflicting testimony as tension, deploying blocked interiors and precisely calibrated performances so each new fact changes responsibility without producing an easy villain.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20
Academy Awards1 win2012 · official ceremony record ↗

Plus 1 additional win

No headline-category win to name

Golden Globes1 win2012 · official film record ↗
Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language2012 · A Separationofficial film record ↗
Berlin3 wins2011 · official festival record ↗
Golden Bear2011 · Asghar Farhadiofficial festival record ↗Silver Bear for Best Actor2011 · Actor-ensembleofficial festival record ↗Silver Bear for Best Actress2011 · Actress-ensembleofficial festival record ↗

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for
Date NightFilm Club
Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound—IMDb Top 250113AFI 100—
Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness9.6
Engagement9.4
Ease8.6

Persian · PG-13
Narrative Feature
Mood: Gripping